Cardiovascular Support

FRESH LEAVES FOR HEART HEALTH

Olive leaves have a long history of use as a herbal tonic to support cardiovascular function. Here naturopath Jayne Tancred explains that their traditional reputation may be at least partially due to its beneficial effects on the blood vessels.

In the same way that a blockage in your car’s fuel line can cause a catastrophe for the engine, constriction or poor function of the blood vessels can lead to serious trouble for your heart. When you get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked, it’s actually your blood vessel health that’s being measured – and this in turn gives an indication of the likelihood that you’ll develop heart problems. The amount of cholesterol in your blood (and specifically the amount of LDL-cholesterol, which is sometimes referred to as ‘bad’ cholesterol) helps predict whether your blood vessels are likely to be affected by atherosclerosis (arterial plaque that narrows and stiffens the blood vessels), while your blood pressure is a measure of how much resistance your heart is pushing against when it’s pumping the blood around your body.

Here at Olive Leaf Australia, we recommend the use of olive leaf extract at doses consistent with those used in traditional medicine to help maintain a healthy cardiovascular system and normal heart function. We’re not recommending that you increase your dosage above those levels (unless advised to do so by your healthcare professional), and we’re certainly not advocating that you stop taking your prescribed medicine.

Nevertheless, it’s interesting to note that in clinical studies, high doses of olive leaf extract have been shown to help reduce elevated LDL-cholesterol levels 1 and assisting maintenance of normal blood pressure 23.

Amongst other mechanisms of action, it’s likely that olive leaves’ potent antioxidant properties are contributing to these effects 567 , especially as both LDL-cholesterol molecules and the blood vessels themselves are highly susceptible to free radical damage, which can exacerbate the already significant issues associated with having high cholesterol. Preliminary research suggests that compounds in olive leaf may also help by assisting normal platelet aggregation 8 , which may in turn play a role in helping to prevent the formation of clots.

Research into the cardiovascular properties of olive leaves is continuing, and it may be many years before we fully understand the health potential of this truly remarkable medicine. However, taken together, the actions of olive leaves and their constituents discussed above represent a plausible validation of their traditional use in the Mediterranean region, where they’ve long been used to support heart function.